Finishes

2.29.2012

Wednesday Work in Progress: Leap Day!

I didn't get a ton of sewing done, but I did enjoy some time here and there working on my projects. And I also took a landscrape quilt class!

--NEW--

{The Lake}: Landscape Quilt

I took a class through my quilting guild this past weekend with an amazing instructor (Tamar Drucker) and learned the finer points of putting together a realistic landscape quilt. Surprisingly, the realism part of this was a struggle for me. I am learning that I am more comfortable in the abstract realm... but man 'o man is it cool when you can look at a quilt and really recognize the person or place. Once I focused on being exact and fussy over my shapes and placement I really started to enjoy the process!

We started with our own picture; you may reconize this as the lake near my house. We learned how to enlarge it, section off the quilt in to various parts, and then create templates to make each piece.

With my handy box of scraps and an open mind I set off to creating my lake in fabrics and had a blast! I got about half way through in the class and really look forward to picking this project up again this weekend! And with a bit more practice under my belt I think I will be ready to try making an art quilt of the dogs... won't that be something!

My newish confetti style quilt of the sunrise I see during the winter from my sewing table is coming along nicely! I have all the little scraps cut and in place. I covered the whole thing with tulle, and started quilting it to hold those pieces in place.

This is the biggest confetti quilt I have made to date, so I had to come up with a way to creating sections or squares as a way to stabilize areas so I could maneuver the quilt without having to worry about all the pieces moving. And guess what? It worked really well!

I just love the texture of these quilts once I lay on a bunch of thread! They feel bumpy, ridgy, rough, lumpy -- sounds funny, but it's a real treat under your fingers. I have used red, pink, yellow, orange, blue, and purple thread so far in addition to the cream that I used to stabilize everything.

I am nearly ready to call the background complete and begin on the detail of the trees. I find this process so rewarding and relaxing and am enjoying each stitch!! This is one of those pieces that has been a true joy to create!

FUN! Good for you. I think doing the templates thing makes for a very tedious puzzle-process. I couldn't do it. You are pretty good at eyeballing things. So I have a weird question. Does the confetti piece need batting? Could it be done on stabilizer? And is there a backing right away when you start, or does that go on later?

HAPPY LEAP DAY to you!It snowed here & is ice, so I won't be running...~Monika